Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

I don't have a hat to post today.  Between dinners and presents and family time, there's been, well, no time. But here is a little selection of some of Henry's first hats:

 Just a few days old here!

 Henry's first Thanksgiving

Henry is his Halloween costume (this hat is also featured as our header).

Also, Henry was lucky enough to have his lovely face featured on Offbeat Mama's Monday Montage this week!  Feel free to head over and check it out, Offbeat Mama is one of my favourite online blogs.

G.

He's making a list, checking it twice...

Greetings everyone!

On to our final Christmas themed hat.  For this hat, I went back to knitting.  I also designed the pattern myself, but it's very basic, all you need to know how to do is knit and purl (and how to work in the round). You could also use a magic loop to accomplish this, but it's a bit more advanced.  

This particular hat fits 3-6 months, if you want to make it bigger or smaller, all you have to do is add or subtract 4 stitches at a time (it's important that you use multiples of 4 to keep the rib pattern).  

I've written out the pattern below for anyone who may be interested in making their own, you can of course change the colours to make it a less holiday specific hat.  

I should mention here that my particular style of knitting in the round uses 5 needles rather than 4.  I learned to knit in Austria where the predominant style of knitting is Continental knitting vs. English knitting which is what most people I've met in Canada use.  As a result, any time I buy double pointed knitting needles in Canada, I am forced to purchase two packages because here they are sold in packs of 4 and I always need 5.  Personally, I think they should just sell them in packs of 5, I mean, everyone can use a spare needle now and then.  

I know what you're thinking, who knew these things even existed/what on earth is she even talking about, right?  Well then, onto the pattern (and then pictures)!

3-6 month

The yarn I used is Vanna's Choice by Lion Brand (available at Michaels) in White and Scarlet (1 ball of each leaves lots left over) and size 6 needles (remember, I distribute my stitches across 4 needles and use the fifth to work in the round).

Cast on 56 stitches in white and distribute evenly among needles.

Rows 1-16 K2, P2 repeat to end of row

cut yarn and switch to Scarlet

Rows 17-37 K2, P2 repeat to end of row (if it's looking like your hat is too long at this point, feel free to skip to the casting off section sooner than row 37, it's all very flexible)

Casting off: 

Row 38 K2, P2tog repeat to end of row

Row 39 K1, K2tog repeat to end of row

Row 40 K2tog repeat until 6 stitches left, pull yarn through remaining stitches and pull tight.  Weave in ends.

Make 1 pom pom in white instructions here  and sew to top of hat.  

Voila!

 Thank you to my wonderful husband for helping me pose the baby in these pictures!

So cute!  If you have any questions about how I made this hat, please leave it in the comments and I will be happy to help you out!

Merry Christmas!

Henry the elf, what's your favourite colour?

Leading up to Christmas, I have 2 hats planned, as such I've decided to post the first one today.  This hat will end our series of crocheted hats, it's also the simplest hat I've featured so far.  Again I used a pattern that I bought on etsy.  Usually I make my own patterns, but these ones were oh so cute, I couldn't resist.

Since starting this blog just a few weeks ago, we've gotten many compliments on Henry's many hats.  I'd like to apologize to anyone who's seen Henry sans hat the past few days.  It's been awfully warm for hats and it's too hot in his car seat so we don't always wear one in public.  But don't fret folks, Winter is well on it's way and as you all know it lasts forever in Ontario, so there will be many opportunities to see Henry's hats in person.  When Summer hits, we're going to have to come up with some creative solutions to the too-hot-for-hats problem.

Now with no further ado...

I tried to take a picture of Henry while he was awake:

 No dice.  Very well then little boy, I'll catch you while you sleep:

 Much better.  Helping Santa is hard work after all.

Bonus picture:  Henry with the big man (and no hat)!

Next week's hat is one of my own design, so I'll share the pattern with you all, just in case there are any knitters out there who want to give it a try (it's an easy one).

G.

Henry the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Hey everyone!  To start, I'd like to mention that you can now follow @hatsofftohenry on twitter (I added a handy button).  I also added some buttons so you can easily share posts on facebook and twitter (should you feel so inclined).  Oh, and of course, the mad hatter background :) Enough housekeeping, onto the hat!

With less than 2 weeks until Christmas, I thought it would be appropriate to have a few holiday themed hats.  This week is a bit of a hybrid on last weeks' hat, with a few epic elaborations.  To be honest, it may be too elaborate to wear out in public, but we'll probably do so anyways.  When I say elaborate, I mean elaborate to the point of having to stuff part of it so it would stand up.  I ended up using part of last weeks' hat pattern and another pattern for a christmas tree ornament (the ornament was awesome btw, see it here: Rory the Reindeer) to complete the look.

Making this hat brought me back to my childhood when I used to make pompoms by the dozen.  This one worked out well, nice to know I've still got it after not having made a pompom in at least 15 years. 

With no further ado, here is the hat!  (I had to take a few pictures so you can get the full picture)

 I know, he's asleep in every picture, it's easier to pose him this way!

 Next week: another holiday hat!  (Maybe a little less elaborate than this one, no antlers or ears).

G.

Barrel of Monkeys

Ok, so we will call this the official start of the project.  Our hat this week is a sock monkey hat!  I had actually started this hat a long time ago, but I hate doing the finishing touches, so I had set it aside to finish later.  The other day I thought to myself, "You really ought to finish the sock monkey hat" so I did and here we are!  I am quite pleased with it, I think I sewed the mouth on a little sideways, but I'm not so much of a perfectionist and I don't think anyone would notice unless I told them (whoops, foot in mouth)!

This particular hat is crocheted which is kind of unusual for me, I typically make knit hats because I find it easier to go in the round that way.  This hat uses a kind of a hybrid amigurumi pattern.  It was pretty easy considering my inexperience with crocheted hats, not to mention this particular style of crocheting.

I bought the pattern for this hat (along with 2 other patterns for similarly adorable hats) off Etsy (the seller was Beezy Mom's Creations in case you are interested).  If you've never heard of Etsy, I have to say, I highly recommend the website.  It's essentially a hand crafters marketplace which allows individuals to sell their items without having to set up an independent website and have to pay for advertising.  In most cases you pay by paypal (which I prefer anyways).  I recommend you go check it out next time you're in the mood for some online shopping.  You can run a search or just start with the featured items on the etsy homepage.  

Now, with no further ado, here is a sleepy Henry in his car seat:

Stay tuned: the next few weeks we'll be featuring holiday themed hats!

G.

Hat's off!

I've always enjoyed knitting and crocheting.  I learned how to when I was a little girl living in Austria where it was required curriculum in school.  Many of my peers from that time gave up the handcrafting, but somehow this was something that stuck with me my whole life.  Now, after many, many years of practice (approximately 20 to be exact), I find myself quite skilled (if I do say so myself) and as such, have decided to take on a little project for this next year.

My son Henry was born on September 17th of this year.  What better way to put my mad knitting skills to use than to make little wee hats for him (and sometimes his friends)?  I thought it might be fun to make him one new hat every week for the next year.  At the end of the year, I will donate all our hats to a charity or hospital of some sort (yet to be determined).  I'll feature each hat here on this blog so you can all enjoy the photo ops with me.  I'll also share the occasional pattern when it's mine to share and direct you all to where you can find your own patterns.

With no further ado, here is a little preview of some of Henry's hats to date:

 These are both pictures of the same hat, which was his Halloween/Fall hat.

 Around 2 months, all Henry's hair fell out on the top of his head, here I have resolved that problem for him.

 Daddy and Henry with matching hats.

I will update again soon so we can get all caught up on the hat situation as it stands now, then we'll just dive right in!
Gillian